Flour was scattered everywhere within a cramped hut.  As might be expected, the dust explosion had been blocked with a barrier.  However, by the time the white dust cleared, the old man had vanished.

“Damn, he got away!  Seig, outside!”
“Leave it to me!”
“Geez, the hell is with that old man!?  I’ll beat him to death!”

Camilla, covered in flour from head to toe, was throwing a tantrum.  Jill cut straight through the smoke and went outside to look around.  Seig, who had gone outside ahead of her, came back.

“No good, I can’t find him.  Where the hell did he run off to this time…?”
“Hey, Jill-chan, over here.  Wasn’t our lunch stolen!?”
“Haa!?”

Astonished, Jill returned to the place where she had been just moments before.  The lunch that had been sitting on the sheet was gone—basket and all.  Seig, having caught up, groaned.

“…This was probably his goal from the start…”

They had been searching around the Dragon Consort’s Palace while cleaning it.  As the opportunity arose, they decided to have lunch outside in the flower field for the nice view—that was when the commotion broke out.  They spotted the old man’s figure, were lured into the hut, and this was the result.

The sacrifice was simply too great.  Jill slumped in dejection.

“M-my lunch…  If-if killing him were okay, I’d only take a second…”
“Calm down, Captain.  I’ll go get you something from the kitchen.”
“That old man is in no waaaaay an ordinary person.”

“It certainly seems that way.”

Jill’s thoughts paused with a “Hm?” at the unfamiliar voice of a third person.  A tall man, his pale hair made translucent by the sunlight and fluttering in the wind, stood behind them with a finger resting against his chin.

“If you don’t come up with a strategy, won’t you remain unable to catch him even by sundown?”
“You bas-you bas… Your… Highness!  Maynard…”

His presence had been completely obscured.  Looking down at the startled Jill with amusement, Maynard gave a pleasant smile.

“I’m honored at having my name remembered, Your Highness the Dragon Consort.  Good afternoon.”

Seig and Camilla both placed their hands on their weapons.  Maynard gave a wry smile at the sight.

“Treating an unarmed man like me in such a way… it’s quite painful.”
“You… No, eeto.”
“You don’t have to force yourself to treat me as Rave royalty.”

He was being considerate of her.  Jill hesitated at first but calmly broached the subject.

“Why are you here?  Weren’t you at a tea party?”
“The tea party ended amicably.  After that, I skillfully took advantage of an opening in the guards’ watch to escape, but I was hopelessly outnumbered.  So, I decided to flee into the Inner Palace where the soldiers can’t enter.  Your Highness the Dragon Consort appeared to be doing something interesting, so I couldn’t help stopping to watch.”
“Seig, Camilla, escort His Highness Maynard to the guest room immediately, and with every courtesy.”
“—That wasn’t a lie, at least official.  In truth, I came to see you, Your Highness the Dragon Consort.  I heard you saved Natalie.”

Maynard placed a hand over his chest and bowed.  It was a beautiful bow.

“Thank you very much.  I simply wanted to express my gratitude.”
“…It was just by chance.  I only happened to run into her while trying to inform her of your visit…”
“In that case, I suppose there was some reward in being found by all of you here.”

No, he really is suspicious after all.  She wasn’t involved with him that deeply in her first life, but between the suspicions that he had incited the events in Laica and the numerous other questionable points, he was simply too suspicious a person.

Jill, remaining on her guard, added,

“—Her Highness Natalie and Her Highness Frieda both have been assigned guards I personally selected.  Please rest assured of their safety.”

She also reinforced, without saying it outright, Stay out of trouble.  He was not someone who would fail to understand the implication.

When Maynard raised his head, however, his eyes were shining as though he were deeply moved.

“In that case, allow me to help with capturing that old man.”
“Ha?  Why?”
“As thanks.”

That is definitely a lie.  Maynard’s shoulders slump in an exaggerated display after being stared at by a silent Jill for a while.

“I wonder why no one will trust me.  Do I really appear that suspicious?”
“So you are aware of it…”
“Very well, I’ll tell you my true motive.  There’s something I want to ask that old man.”
“Do you know him?”
“We are not acquainted, but I am familiar with his origins.  The only person I can think of who knows what I want to know—and who might tell me—is him.”
“…what is that you want to know?”

Jill did not expect him to answer.  Maynard, however, fixed his gaze on her and his thin lips parted.

“The whereabouts of the former emperor.”

It was an unexpected answer.  Seig and Camilla also exchanged glances.

“You are by no means unrelated to this either, Your Highness the Dragon Consort.  I happened to pick this up.”

What he drew from inside his clothes, pinched between his fingertips, was an envelope.  It was addressed, To my beloved, Your Highness the Dragon Consort.  Startled, Seig looked at his own back pocket.

“You stole it!?”
“I picked it up.”
“That’s a lie!  And you, why did you leave it in a place like that!?  Don’t you know how bad it’d be bad if His Majesty found out!?”
“Camilla!”
“…Ah.”

Maynard smiled broadly.  It was an exceptionally satisfied smile.

“His Majesty the Dragon Emperor and Her Highness the Dragon Consort truly do have a wonderful relationship.  To be able to make such a fuss over a letter like this.”
“……  Fine, I’ll let you help.  Now give that back!”

She snatched the letter he had been ostentatiously waving about away.  Maynard laughed with a chuckle from deep in his throat.

“You are quite bold.  Or perhaps it is a maiden’s heart.  That letter is obviously a trap, no matter how you look at it.  I don’t believe His Majesty the Dragon Emperor would fall for it.  What’s more, dealing with me will be much more troublesome.”
“Could you please not flatter yourself?  His Majesty is far more troublesome and difficult to deal with than someone like you.”

Jill gave the bewildered Maynard a cool look.

“Silencing you is the easier option.  If worst comes to it, I can simply break your neck.”
“……  A joke?”
“Does it look that way to you?”
“No, no, I understand perfectly now.  Both the Dragon Emperor and the Dragon Consort are quite ruthless.”
“His Majesty actually spoke with you?”

Although the appearance of a tea party had been properly maintained, Hades was very cautious and had no desire to involve himself with things he disliked.  Vissel and Lutiya should had been his primary conversation partners.

“You really do only poke at sore spots.”

Jill felt a bit proud.  Without letting it show, she continued the conversation in a matter-of-fact manner.

“So?  How are we going to catch him?”
“If we do nothing but chase him, we’ll simply be toyed with however he pleases.  Let’s catch him with a trap.”
“We don’t even know where he is—.”
“From what I saw just now, he came out because he was lured in by the food.  How about setting a trap around that?”

“Ah,” Jill said, striking one hand into the other.

“Now that you mention it, it was the same last time.  He kept complaining about how we shouldn’t burn the Dragon Burial Flower Field while we were eating…”
“In other words, His Majesty’s meal!  —In that case, tomorrow…”
“Except, His Majesty’s schedule is completely packed.”
“But… I can’t use His Majesty’s meal as bait…!”

Seig and Camilla fell silent at Jill’s groan.  Maynard thought for a moment and spoke.

“He objected to burning the Dragon Burial Flower Field?”
“Ah, yes.  He said something about us not understanding its value…  Don’t tell me you plan on burning it!?”

“A person who regrets how these flowers lost their value.  —He is probably fond of historical things.  If it’s Your Highness the Dragon Consort, couldn’t you prepare bait that would make the dragon flowers pale by comparison?”

As Jill blinked, the corners of Maynard’s mouth rose with a meaningful smile.

“For example, the golden-eyed black dragon. —I would think the King of Dragons would be something worth drooling over.”

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